A PON is not a backyard
breed. He requires a home and family who will provide plenty
of love and special attention. You will then become the
center of his world.

A PON
requires a fenced in yard. He is a herding breed and you just
may find him down the street herding the neighborhood children
if he is not kept in his own yard!

Even
a well-socialized PON can be wary of strangers at first. He thinks
of his family as his "sheep" and is naturally protective.
Though some PONs will exuberantly greet your guests at the door,
most PONs will be more cautious at first until they feel their
"herd" is safe.

Their
temperaments can vary greatly depending on their breeding and
the amount of time you are willing to invest in socializing your
dog, i.e. (1) making sure it is around lots of kind and gentle
children and adults who will provide a loving experience for
your pet so that it grows accustomed to people of all ages outside
their immediate family (2) taking your dog to lots of different
places so it will be able to handle new experiences and noises
with confidence.

A PON
is susceptible to skin allergies/itching if he is not provided
with a high quality food diet consisting of no more than 20%
protein. Please
note: some PONs have no problems with higher protein foods so
use caution as your guide.

Breeding
any purebred dog requires a good eye and a knowledge of genetics,
bloodlines and desireable breed characteristics. To insure the
good health and preservation of future PON generations, it is
critical to know which PONs are to be bred and to whom. Breeding
rare breed dogs requires an added degree of knowledge to deal
with their unique set of breeding issues. If you have the desire
to breed for an income or to supplement an existing income, please
choose another breed. The time and money required to breed PONs
will not end up making you money and could definitely cost you
money!

If
you want a show dog, please make this fact clear to the breeder.
NO BREEDER can guarantee that a puppy will earn it's championship,
but he can select a puppy that is, in his opinion, of good quality
and free of visible faults that would eliminate the puppy from
competition at the time of sale.

Keeping
a PON with a traditional long coat requires approximately 15-30
minutes a week of grooming to keep the coat free from matts.
The amount of grooming time is shortened considerably if you
keep your PON's coat short.

At
their best, a PON is lively, playful, affectionate, loyal to
its family, very intelligent and highly adaptable. At their worst
a PON can be aggressive, unruly, fearful and domineering. More
often than not a PON is what YOU make it.

It
is a good idea, if you are purchasing a PON to become a part
of a family with children, to purchase one that has been raised
in a household with children. If the breeder does not have children
of their own, make sure the breeder has made many attempts to
accustom their puppies to children.

Pons love to please
their owners. But some are also a bit stubborn. Treat them with
firmness, consistency and kindness and they will do what you
ask of them. To hit or abuse a PON is asking for trouble. They
will only become stubborn and aggressive. So treat your PON well
and they will reward you with years of adoration.